Adapting the SDQ-I (Self-Description Questionnaire-I), which examines self-concept, in Hungary

Abstract

The aim of our study is to present and examine the functioning of the Hungarian translation of the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I, Marsh, 1990b), which was developed for the assessment of self-concept in school-aged children, and has been translated to several languages. The SDQ-I is a 76-item self-assessment questionnaire based on the multicomponent, hierarchical model of self-concept (Marsh, 1990a), and contains the following subscales: (1) physical ability self-concept; (2) physical appearance self-concept, (3) reading self-concept, (4) mathematics self-concept, (5) peer relations self-concept, (6) parent relation self-concept, (7) general self-concept and (8) general school self-concept. In our study, 586 students in grades 3, 5 and 7 completed the Hungarian adaptation of the SDQ-I (SDQ-I-H). The validity of the instrument was checked by exploratory factor analysis, the results supported the structure of the original instrument.  Reliability indices of the scales of the SDQ-I-H ranged from 0.72 to 0.91. Analyses of the correlations between the scales provided support for the theoretical model of self-concept underlying the questionnaire and for the hypothesis that the structure of self-concept changes over the years. Results suggest that the SDQ-I-H is an appropriate measure of the self-concept of Hungarian school-aged children that may enable further research and the understanding of students' self-concept components in pedagogical practice.